Ash Hollow State Historical Park
Windlass Hill Rec. Rd, Oshkosh, NE
Lewellen, NE
A green spring-fed hollow that overland emigrants remembered as an oasis, reached only after they lowered their wagons down the fearsome slope of Windlass Hill.
For the emigrants rolling west on the Oregon and California trails in the 1840s and 1850s, Ash Hollow was a green reward. After weeks of dust and grass, the spring-fed canyon offered cold, clear water, shade, wild currants, and ash trees, and diaries overflow with relief at reaching it. But the hollow had to be earned, because just above it lay Windlass Hill, a slope so steep that wagons had to be roped and eased down inch by inch.
Today Ash Hollow State Historical Park preserves both the descent and the oasis. From the top of Windlass Hill you can see the trail ruts still carved into the earth, gouged so deep by iron-rimmed wheels that a century and a half of grass has never healed them. Below, the hollow is still cool and green, and the park's visitor center adds layers of much older history in stone and bone.
What Guests Love
- Standing at the top of Windlass Hill and seeing the wagon ruts cut straight down the slope
- The cool, spring-fed green of the hollow after miles of open plains
- The visitor center's fossils, dioramas, and trail stories
- A pioneer cemetery and the sense of walking the actual Oregon Trail route
Worth Knowing
- Windlass Hill and the main hollow are a short drive apart, so plan to stop at both
- The ruts and overlooks involve walking on unpaved trails, so wear real shoes
- Summer on the open slope gets hot and shadeless, so bring water and sun protection
- This is quiet, uncrowded country, so fuel up and plan for distances between towns
Details
Lewellen, NE
Learn about Ash Hollow State Historical Park
Windlass Hill and the wagons that came down it
Windlass Hill was one of the steepest grades on the entire Oregon Trail. To get their heavy wagons safely to the bottom, emigrants locked the wheels, tied on ropes, and lowered the loads down the slope, sometimes with a crude winch and sometimes simply by main strength and prayer. Runaway wagons and injuries were a real danger, and the descent stuck in travelers' memories long after gentler stretches faded.
The name suggests a windlass, or hand-cranked winch, though historians debate how often one was actually used. What is not in doubt are the ruts. Look down the slope from the overlook and you can still see the trail's deep swales cut into the ground, some of the clearest surviving Oregon Trail traces anywhere, worn by tens of thousands of wagons over roughly two decades.
The oasis in the hollow
Ash Hollow itself was famous on the trail as an oasis. A cold spring bubbled up in the shade of ash and cedar, and after the parched crossing from the South Platte, emigrants found water good enough that many called it the best on the whole route. They rested their teams, did laundry, gathered berries, and buried their dead here, and a small pioneer grave still marks the hollow.
Long before the wagons, the hollow was important to Native peoples of the region, including the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Pawnee, who knew the springs and camped in the sheltered canyon. In 1855 the nearby Battle of Ash Hollow, also called the Battle of Blue Water Creek, saw U.S. soldiers attack a Lakota village, a violent chapter in the long displacement of the Plains tribes that the park does not hide.
Deep time in the rock
The layered bluffs around Ash Hollow are a book of ancient time. The rock holds the remains of animals that lived here millions of years ago, when the region was a savanna roamed by rhinoceroses, three-toed horses, and other creatures now long extinct. The park's visitor center displays fossils drawn from these beds and explains the deep geologic story beneath the trail history.
There is human antiquity here too. A rock shelter in the hollow holds evidence of Native use going back thousands of years, one of the oldest known campsites in the region. Between the fossils, the ancient shelter, and the pioneer ruts, Ash Hollow layers tens of millions of years of history into one small canyon.
Seasons on the North Platte
Spring greens the hollow and fills the spring, and the mild days make it the pleasant time to walk Windlass Hill before the summer heat. Summer is hot and bright on the open slope, so early morning is best, though the hollow's shade offers relief.
Fall brings cooler air, golden grass, and thinner crowds, a fine time to trace the ruts under a big prairie sky. Winter is cold and quiet, with the wind sweeping the North Platte valley much as it did when the wagons rolled through.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Lewellen
Lake McConaughy
About 20 miles west
Nebraska's largest reservoir, a huge blue lake with white-sand beaches, fishing, and boating on the North Platte.
Lewellen
About 4 miles
A tiny river town near the park, a quiet stop in the North Platte valley.
Ogallala
About 30 miles west
A former cattle-trail town at the end of the Texas Trail, with a Boot Hill cemetery and Old West history.